The Kansas City Chiefs have lost key pieces of their dynasty in free agency. They traded Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears and even lost Justin Reid to the New Orleans Saints. They've brought back some of their stars, like Nick Bolton, but they're losing more people than they can bring in.
I wonder if, after three straight Super Bowl appearances, the Chiefs are beginning to decline a little bit. It'll be impossible to say until the regular season starts again, and they haven't even selected their rookies in the NFL draft.
However, if their season next year is purely on their free agency performance thus far, I believe next year will have a different representative for the AFC in the Super Bowl. They are still set to lose important players to their defense, like Charles Omenihu and Derrick Nnadi.
It's not even totally about the players they're losing, as historically, Patrick Mahomes has been able to work magic for the Chiefs regardless of the talent they surround him with. I just don't think the landscape of the AFC will look the same next year.
Even in their own division, every team in the AFC West projects to be better than last season. The Las Vegas Raiders likely won't be a four-win team anymore after trading for Geno Smith. The Denver Broncos are having an amazing free agency by adding onto their already great defense and getting weapons for Bo Nix.
Jim Harbaugh establishes a winning culture everywhere he goes; I don't think he'll allow Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers to flame out in the playoffs as they did. Arguably, the Chiefs' biggest competitor is the Buffalo Bills, and they've also had a great free agency.
They signed Joey Bosa and come into next season with the MVP playing for them. It just seems like the Chiefs are destined to take a step back next season. If they want to avoid that, their players have to step up and get used to a higher workload offensively and defensively.
Their offense sleepwalked through most of last season. Hopefully, their wide receiver core can remain healthy and help bring back the Chiefs' offense that was so dynamic and explosive.